Someone who has a lot of money to spend has taken a bullish stance on this Apple AAPL,
And retail traders should know.
We noticed this today when large positions appeared on the publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.
Whether it is some institution or just a wealthy person, we do not know. But when something this big happens to AAPL, it often means that someone knows something is about to happen.
So how do we know what this whale just did?
Today, benzingaK Options Scanner spotted 11 unusual options trades for Apple.
this is not normal.
The overall sentiment among these big money traders is split between 63% bullish and 36% bearish.
Of all the special options we find, 3 are puts, for a total amount of $149,458, and 8 are calls, for a total amount of $510,661.
What is a price target?
Considering the volume and open interest on these contracts, it appears that whales are targeting a price range of $152.5 to $220.0 for Apple over the past 3 months.
Volume and Open Interest Development
In terms of liquidity and interest, the average open interest for Apple option trades today stood at 11390.71, with a total volume of 69,834.00.
In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of calls and put options for Apple large money trades within the strike price range of $152.5 to $220.0 over the past 30 days.
Apple Option Volume and Open Interest over the last 30 days
Largest options seen:
| Sign | put/call | business type | Rate | Exp. date | strike price | net trade value | open interest | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | call | sweep | fast | 03/31/23 | $160.00 | $123.0K | 36.5 thousand | 9.7 thousand |
| AAPL | call | sweep | fast | 03/31/23 | $160.00 | $88.8K | 36.5 thousand | 7.3 thousand |
| AAPL | call | sweep | fast | 06/21/24 | $220.00 | $78.2K | 1.6 thousand | 0 |
| AAPL | call | sweep | recession | 03/31/23 | $160.00 | $67.0K | 36.5 thousand | 18.3K |
| AAPL | Keep | sweep | recession | 03/31/23 | $160.00 | $66.8K | 8.0 thousand | 6.3k |
| Sign | put/call | business type | Rate | Exp. date | strike price | net trade value | open interest | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | call | sweep | fast | 03/31/23 | $160.00 | $123.0K | 36.5 thousand | 9.7 thousand |
| AAPL | call | sweep | fast | 03/31/23 | $160.00 | $88.8K | 36.5 thousand | 7.3 thousand |
| AAPL | call | sweep | fast | 06/21/24 | $220.00 | $78.2K | 1.6 thousand | 0 |
| AAPL | call | sweep | recession | 03/31/23 | $160.00 | $67.0K | 36.5 thousand | 18.3K |
| AAPL | Keep | sweep | recession | 03/31/23 | $160.00 | $66.8K | 8.0 thousand | 6.3k |
Where does Apple stand now?
- AAPL price rose by 1.25% to $159.62, with a volume of 1,469,862.
- The RSI indicator is indicating that the underlying stock may be overbought.
- The next earnings release is expected in 29 days.
What the experts say on Apple:
- Wedbush has decided to maintain an outperform rating on Apple, which currently sits at a price target of $190.
- Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to Buy with a price target of $199.
- Needham downgraded its action with a price target of $170.
- Jefferies downgraded its action to Buy with a price target of $195.
- Lightshade Partners downgraded its action to Sell with a price target of $120.
Options are a riskier asset than stock trading, but they have higher profit potential. Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily, scalping in and out of trades, following more than one indicator, and following the markets closely.
If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Apple, benzinga pro Provides you with real-time options trade alerts.